Not all politicos lean to one side of the brain or the other. For Ms. Glenda Jackson, the two-time Oscar winner-cum-politician has announced that she will return to the Old Vic Theatre in October as Shakespeare's tragic King Lear.
Glenda Jackson is a world-renowned actor of stage and film who also adjourned from the life of an artist in 1990, at the height of her career. Soon after, she would make her maiden speech to Parliament and be elected as the representative of Hampstead and Kilburn in North London.
With an absence of almost 25 years, the news of Ms. Jackson's return has come to the excitement of many theatergoers.
Last year, though, Ms. Jackson complained about the lack of opportunities elders have on the stage, specifically the lack of opportunities for elderly women in the performance circle to tackle such complex characters like those in Shakespearean texts.
She lamented:
"Let's look at Shakespeare. If you're lucky and you're talented as a man, you can go through every single male development stage. You can go all the way from ... Hamlet to Lear. There's a part along that path that matches the human development. There is no equivalent for women."
So for Ms. Jackson, then, this performance is a breath of fresh air for a community of actors she feels has been unfairly slighted.
But renowned director Deborah Warner, who will direct the production as well as Jackson, stated that rehearsals for the play will begin in August. While the date may be a few months away, the news is enough to fill the gap of excitement from now until then.
If you aren't familiar with Glenda Jackson, though, preview her in a video below.
